With his surprise “GNX,” Kendrick Lamar roars from zero to 60 faster than a turbocharged 1987 Buick, faster than you can shout “Mustaaaard.” And waaaaay faster than you can decode the dense Biblical centerpiece ‘Reincarnated’.

While maintaining the same energy from him milestone Pop Out concert five months ago, Lamar surrounds himself with emerging Los Angeles artists – from AzChike to Peysoh – and raps about the pounding soundscapes of the New West Coast, shaped by his longtime producer Sounwave, along with Jack Antonoff and a garage full of other beat mechanics. Once again “possessed by a ghost,” peppered with 2Pac, Biggie and Nas references, he maintains a me-against-the-world antipathy that includes a certain Canadian but extends much further: “I just felt like a GOAT strangled’ and ‘now it’s plural.”

Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Andrew Schulz and even Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast can’t escape K-Dot’s chaotic crosshairs. Here’s hoping the chorus of “TV off” — an urgent call to “turn off the TV” repeated eight times — confuses the crowd at his halftime show in New Orleans in February.

This is Lamar leaning on the same creativity-depleting pride, self-righteous anger and supreme confidence that fueled the Grammy-nominated “Not Like Us” and won his Drake feud: “I’ll kill them all before I let them kill my joy. .” And yet, as with his very first hit ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’, even the most club-ready brag songs – and there are plenty of them, including the huge ‘squabble up’ and the synth-stung Mustard production ‘hey now’ – are slapped with a warning sticker. Introspection is ingrained in Lamar’s art. In ‘Man in the Garden’ he surveys his kingdom and glory and declares that although ‘I deserve it all’, ‘dangerous / nothing has changed in me / there is still pain in me’.

At 37, Lamar is still in top form (that breath control!) and stands alone in the rap world as a star who bridges generations without chasing trends. He generates his own gravity in the hip-hop universe. Using samples from the early ’80s – Debbie Deb, Luther Vandross, Whodini – he can switch cadence and lyrical perspectives mid-song without ever losing the listener.

Album closer “gloria,” one of two songs featuring former TDE labelmate SZA, is a glorious celebration of the pain and power of writing. In the vein of Common’s “I Used to Love HER” or Nas’ “I Gave You Power,” Lamar’s love story describes a “complicated relationship” that listeners may initially think is about his longtime partner Whitney Alford, but turns out to be are devoted to his pen.

Though carefully structured, “GNX” feels a bit more scattered than Lamar’s traditionally concept-heavy studio albums. And there are indications that this collection of twelve songs is more of a “Part 1” or mixtape-esque prelude to something more formal: the short music video announcing the album features a snippet of a song that doesn’t even appear on “GNX.” .”

Whatever comes next, the Pulitzer Prize winner has written another thrilling chapter in what remains hip-hop’s most fascinating long-form story: an ambitious and deeply talented Compton poet navigating his contradictions—and those of the world. processed on the largest stage, forever uncomfortable. by his crown. ___

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